It’s just never fast enough!

From behind handlebars, it often feels as though every additional quarter-mile of trail and on-roads bicycle accommodation takes forever to open.

And yet, a look back to 2010—the first publication year of the Greater Des Moines Regional Trails Map—shows we have made big strides in the metro area.

Take a gander.

Total number of paved trails
2010: 314.27 miles
2018: 490.9 miles
2018: For Central Iowa (Polk, Warren, Dallas, Guthrie, Greene, Boone, Story, Marshall, Jasper, Marion) = 800+ miles including soft trails

Total miles of bike lanes (includes shoulder bikeways and shared-lane bikeways)
2010: 8.26 miles
2018: 45.97 miles

Trail gap miles
2010: 114 miles
2018: 54 miles

DART Bike and Ride Usage
2010: 31,105 trips
2018: 61,488 trips

STBG/TAP Grant Dollars
1995-2020: $20,919,985

Bike Share
2010: September launch with 4 stations and 18 bikes
2018: 23 stations and 130 bikes

Trailheads with parking
2010: 29
2018: 54

Metro Complete Streets Policies
2010: Des Moines approved in 2008)
2015: MPO Complete Streets policy adopted
2019: Nine municipalities with Complete Streets policies

Sources: Des Moines MPO, DART, Street Collective Regional Trails Map